Erin Andrews is proving the industry wrong

What’s impressive to me about Erin Andrews is how much she taught herself about sports. She’s covered everything from the Little League World Series to NASCAR to hockey, but when she started her career she only knew about football. Her incredible passion for sports led her to pursue a career that would keep her as close to the field as possible.

“I’ve kind of never taken ‘no’ for an answer and I have a pretty big chip on my shoulder, as well. I know what the perception is of women in the industry. I know what the perception by people who don’t know anything about me is. I think they believe I have my job because I look a certain way or because I’m female. And then I feel like when people hang out with me or talk to me on the sidelines or even see me interact with athletes, their expression is really funny – ‘Oh, wow, you really do know a lot about sports.’ I love it. It’s my favorite thing.” –Erin Andrews

Erin was let go from her first sports broadcasting job. She admits she just wasn’t ready, but she didn’t let it bring her down. She used that setback as a reason to get out there again and prove herself. It’s amazing how a decision to continue on like that can alter your entire career. Think about that lesson: If you love something, you have to stick with it.

“I’m very stubborn … I feel like I can’t work hard enough because I feel like there’s always going to be one day on the field that somebody comes up to me, or maybe Troy Aikman or Joe Buck will say, ‘Hey EA, do you have this?’ And if I don’t have it, I’ll just be mortified. That’s why I’m always looking at Twitter, I’m always reading articles. I just want to make sure I’m prepared.” –Erin Andrews

Finding greatness isn’t easy. It’s not a part-time job. If you want to do something, you’re going to have times when you fail. But it’s how you handle those times that determines how successful you’re going to be.

“There’s incredible opportunity [in sports]. But I will tell you I get very passionate when I talk to girls about it in saying you have to be ready to work your rear end off. If you aren’t, you’ll be exposed. Athletes and coaches know when you’re prepared and they know when you’re just there and you’re not.” –Erin Andrews